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The Eugene Field 
I Knew ¥ ¥ 1 i ¥ 
By Francis Wilson 



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New York 
Charles Scribncr*s Sons 

Mcmii 



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Copyright, 1898, by- 
Charles Scribner's Sons 

H *i 2. v.^ 



MANHATTAN PRESS 

474 V/. BROADWAY 

NEW YORK 




To 

my daughters 

Fjances and Adelaide 

this book about their good 

friend and mine is 

affectionately 

inscribed 



Note 

I am very glad to avail myself of' 
the privilege of a Note in which 
to express my thanks to James 
Whitcomb Riley, George W. 
Cable, Mrs. Julia Field, Roswell 
M. Field, Leon H. Vincent, Rev. 
Dr. Frank M. Bristol, De Witt 
Miller, Frank M. Morris, W. 
Irving Way, George M. Mil- 
lard, Otto Fleischner, Ralph 
Meeker, Melville E. Stone, 
Marvin Eddy, and others, for 
courtesies shown me with respect 
to this publication. 

F. W. 



Illustrations 



Portrait of Eugene Field, in photogravure, 
with facsimile reproduction of autograph 

inscription Frontispiece 

From a photograph. 



• e • 



Field, Riley and Nye 
From a photograph. 



Early portraits of Eugene Field 
From photographs. 



Field as the Waitress " Camille ' * . o . 1 8 
From a drawing by E. W. Kemble. 

Letter to the Rev. Dr. F. M. Bristol, re- 
produced in facsimile . o . . . . 52 
On the poem " The Singing in God's Acre." 

Field Writing o . . • 70 

From a drawing by G. W. Ramage. 



OPP. PAGE 

Page of Advertisements at the end of " Cul- 
ture's Garland" , . 94 

Reproduced in facsimile, 

Julia S. Field 102 

From a photograph. 

The Field Children — " Sister Girl" and 

"Pody" 120 

From a photograph. 

Announcement Bill of Field's Last Public 

Appearance 122 

Reproduced in facsimile. 

The Shackelford Letters . . End of Volume 
Reproduced in facsimile. 



EUGENE FIELD 




BORN AT ST. LOUIS, MO., SEPTEMBER 3, . . 


1850 


STUDENT AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE, .... 


1868 


FRESHMAN CLASS 




STUDENT AT KNOX COLLEGE 


1869 


SOPHOMORE CLASS 




STUDENT AT COLUMBIA (mO.) UNIVERSITY, . 


1870 


JUNIOR CLASS 




SPENT SIX MONTHS IN EUROPE, 


1872 


REPORTER ON ST. LOUIS JOURNAL, . . . . 


1873 


CITY EDITOR ST. JOSEPH (MO.) GAZETTE, . . 


1875-76 


EDITORIAL WRITER ON ST. LOUIS. JOURNAL 




AND ST. LOUIS TIMES-JOURNAL, . . . 


1876-80 


MANAGING EDITOR KANSAS CITY TIMES, . . 


1880-81 


MANAGING EDITOR DENVER TRIBUNE, . . . 


1881-83 


FREE LANCE ON CHICAGO RECORD (FORMERLY 




DAILY NEWS), 


1883-95 
1889 


SPENT THE YEAR IN EUROPE, 


DIED AT CHICAGO, NOVEMBER 4, .... 


189s 



The Eugene Field I Knew 



THERE were many Eugene Fields. 
Like the Apostle, he was all things 
to all men and much to many. Curi- 
ously enough, the Eugene Field of Julian 
Hawthorne was diametrically the op- 
posite of George W. Cable's Eugene 
Field. 

He was well-nigh idolized in Chicago, 
where he delighted to live, and from 
which place "gold, silver, jewels and 
precious stones" could not tempt him 
permanently. 

To " Bill Nye " he was an eccentric 
but charming companion, and James 
Whitcomb Riley, wondering at his ver- 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

satility of talent, found Field " an iso- 
lated character running counter to any 
prior opinion that might have been 
formed of him." He was a terror to 
politicians, a Homer to the children, 
and different to, as well as from, every- 
body. He bore unique relations to 
each of his friends and acquaintances, 
as many of them have eloquently and 
affectionately testified. As Field came 
to be a conspicuous literary figure, it 
was most interesting to observe his keen 
enjoyment of growing reputation. He 
played the lion with admirable modesty 
and the tact of a Talleyrand. If the 
situation required it, he could " aggra- 
vate his voice so that he would roar 
you as gently as any sucking dove." 

Possessed of a sonorous bass voice, 
an unconventional manner, and much 
magnetism, he easily made himself the 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

centre of any group in which he chanced 
to mingle. He constantly attracted peo- 
ple who were as far removed as possible, 
seemingly, from any interest in the work 
in which he was engaged ; then his mis- 
sionary labors began ; and in a few weeks, 
under the stimulating guidance of their 
poetic friend, his new acquaintances 
would be collecting books and rapidly 
developing into gentle bibliomaniacs. 
In this conversion of an indifferent soul 
into an enthusiastic worshipper at the 
shrine of literature, Eugene Field re- 
joiced. 

His devotion to his friends was beau- 
tiful. With a great degree of truth it is 
said that his recreation consisted chiefly 
in the task of illuminating poems, or of 
writing dedicatory addresses in presen- 
tation copies of books which he gave 
them. He would give hours to the em- 

3 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

bellishment of a letter which it had taken 
him but ten minutes to write. He was 
fierce and uncompromising in the de- 
nunciation of shams; he mercilessly 
lampooned pretension and ignorance; 
but so winsome was the man's nature, 
so much was he loved by those with 
whom he came into personal contact, 
so touched were they by his tender 
strains in the praise of childhood, so 
convinced were all of his earnestness 
and honesty, of his civic pride, so drawn 
to him by his magnetic power, that many 
of those whom for years he publicly ridi- 
culed stood with bowed heads about his 
coffin. 

The Eugene Field whom I knew 
had but little about him that was not of 
the brightest, sunniest character. Being 
human, he had his moments of sadness, 
but even through these temporary shad- 
4 




Field, Riley and Nye 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

ows the radiance of his buoyancy would 
shine. He had a wonderfully keen 
appreciation of the humorous and the 
ridiculous, and a facility for turning a 
proposition from grave to gay and from 
gay to grave as unusual as it was diverting. 

To know Field in his happiest moods 
was to sit as audience to him while 
with book in hand he read aloud some 
such production as the poems of the 
Sweet Singer of Michigan, and com- 
mented thereon. His dry, sly little 
chuckle (I never heard him laugh 
heartily) attracted you, if you were 
observing, while his criticisms were ir- 
resistible. 

His " Oh, is n't that lovely ! " as he 
would crow and narrow his shoulders 
in delight, when he met some especially 
crude line; as, 

While on earth he done his duty, 
5 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

and the mock-seriousness with which, 
still reading, he would troll out : 

And now, kind friends, what I have wrote, 

I hope you will look o'er, 
And not criticise as some have done. 

Hitherto, herebefore, 

and his unique way of hunching him- 
self into various comic positions on his 
chair, were very mirth-compelling. 

He was not unmindful of the effect 
which he was producing, and grinned 
good-naturedly all the while at your 
helpless emotion — the tribute of laugh- 
ter serving but to stimulate his "antic 
disposition." 

Every occasion was seized upon by 
Field's Puritan relatives to provide him 
with a full store of biblical knowledge. 
As a child he was encouraged by his 
grandmother, a devout Congregational- 
ist, to write sermons, for every one of 
6 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

which, as a reward of merit, he was 
given ninepence — a very substantial 
sum in those days, in New England, to 
a boy of nine. 

A number of these childish homilies 
was made, the surviving one of which 
testifies to his neatness and intelligence. 
The writer has often heard him read 
the sermon, and Field never failed to 
chuckle over the jumble — the Grseco- 
Roman tussle — of the pronouns, and 
to smile approvingly at the ambitious 
effort at fine writing of his younger self 

The "I remark secondly" and the 
" Oh, it is indeed hard for sinners to go 
down to perdition over all the obstacles 
which God has placed in his path" 
greatly amused him. He did not care 
much to commit Bible verses to mem- 
ory — he was fonder of recitations — 
but grandma's insistence, and grand- 
7 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

ma's ninepences, gave him a knowledge 
of the Scriptures of which, later, he was 
very proud. 

Notes of Sermon by E. P. Field.^ 

Text in Prov., Chap. 13, Verse 15. 

The life of a Christian is often compared to a 
race that is hard, and to a battle in which a man 
must fight hard to win; these comparisons have 
prevented many from becoming Christians. But 
the Bible does not compare the Christian's path as 
one of hard labor. But Solomon says, Wisdom's 
ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths 
are peace. Under the word "transgressor" are 
included all those that disobey their Maker, or in 
shorter words, the ungodly. Every person looking 
around will see many who are transgressors and 
whose lot is very hard. 

I remark secondly that conscience makes the 
way of transgressors hard, for every act of pleasure, 
every act of guilt his conscience smites him. The 
last of his stay on earth will appear horrible to the 
beholder. Sometimes, however, he will be stayed 

1 Chagrined that, unlike most boys, he had no middle name, 
Field assumed the " P," which stood for Phillips — Wendell 
Phillips — of whom Field was a great admirer. 

8 





-m C5 



^ 



At Twelve At Eighteen 



^■^^ C^ 




At Nineteen At Nineteen 

Early Portraits of Eugene Field 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

in his guilt. A death in a family of some favorite 
object, or be attacked by Some disease himself, is 
brought to the portals of the grave. Then for a 
little time, perhaps, he is stayed in his wickedness, 
but before long he returns to his worldly lust. 
Oh it is indeed hard for sinners to go down into 
perdition over all the obstacles which God has 
placed in his path. But many I am afraid do go 
down into perdition, for wide is the gate and broad 
is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many 
there be that go in thereat. 

Suppose now there was a fearful precipice and 
to allure you there your enemies should scatter 
flowers on its dreadful edge. Would you if you 
knew that while you were strolling about on that 
awful rock that night would settle down on you and 
that you would fall from that giddy height, would 
you, I say, go near that dreadful rock? Just so 
with the transgressor, he falls from that height 
just because he wishes to appear good in the sight 
of the world. 

But what will a man gain if he gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul ? 

Field began to write, in an amateur 
way, for newspapers in 1871, when he 
was twenty-one and a Sophomore at 

9 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. To 
" The Register/' a paper published in 
the town, he made frequent contribu- 
tions, which were recognized and eagerly 
read. His literary talent was acknow- 
ledged even at this early date, and his 
future success was thought to be as- 
sured. He is remembered as carelessly 
dressed, wearing his hair rather long, 
and smoking a cob pipe. His room 
was a resort for the college boys; he 
was very popular with the students, 
who were attentive listeners to his droll 
stories. It is unnecessary to say he 
was concerned in all the college pranks. 
At that early date he was a collector 
of books; but these beginnings of a 
library were unfortunately destroyed by 
fire. His kindness, honesty, and sincer- 
ity are also remembered. 

Field was an inveterate practical 

lO 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

joker, but his jokes had the rare quality 
of endearing him all the more to those 
upon whom they were practised. It 
was waggery pure, but not always sim- 
ple, for it was oftentimes of the most 
elaborate character — fancifully con- 
ceived and carefully wrought. It sel- 
dom stung, and it rarely ever failed to 
tickle. One felt flattered to be the ob- 
ject of so much time, attention, and 
skill as his conceits frequently involved. 
Field was very fond of the proprietor 
of a certain underground bookshop in 
Chicago, and the feeling was cordially 
reciprocated. He would go down to 
this place of an evening. When the 
doors were closed the proprietor and he 
would repair to the back of the shop, 
and Field would put his feet upon the 
table and sing old songs and tell stories 
at the top of his tremendous voice. He 
II 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

said of this friend, with genial satire, 
that he had in him " the making of a 
delightfully unscrupulous and success- 
ful robber." A trip from his home on 
the north side to the city proper always 
included a visit to the " Book Shop," 
which meant impromptu utterances 
with congenial folk on books and col- 
lectors. Indeed, it was in this under- 
ground shop, at the corner of Madison 
and State streets, that the gathering 
began of the Saints and Sinners' Club. 
There Field would come in his boyish, 
breezy way and talk at the customers — 
fashioning his remarks to their supposed 
character, of which, as it often proved, 
he was an excellent off-hand judge. 

Now he would stiffen the back of a 
straightlaced dame by demanding, in a 
loud voice, an unexpurgated copy of 
Mrs. Hemans's poems ; or, if the visitor 

12 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

scanned the theological books, perhaps 
Field would declare that Paine's "Age 
of Reason" was orthodox by comparison 
with the religious belief to which he 
surmised the newcomer adhered. This 
rarely failed in its effect upon the new- 
comer. During one of these visits the 
proprietor was away, and Field, finding 
a print of him, wrote under the picture 
in his microscopic handwriting : 

This is the robber as sure as you 're born, 
Against whose guile I fain would warn 
The bibliomaniac, tattered and torn, 
Who pauses to look at some second-hand book 
That lies on the shelf all covered with dust, 
And is marked " four dollars, for cash, no trust," 
In a gloomy corner that smells of must, 
Down in the shop that Morris built. 

Eugene Field. 

This he carefully laid away between the 
leaves of a book, where it was discov- 
ered some days later. 

13 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

In "A Little Book of Western 
Verse," belonging to " the robber," he 
wrote : 

Believe me, by all those endearing old charms 

With which your quaint shop is provided, 

I shall honor the trade by whose help I have 

made 
A collection of freaks that 's derided. 
And, if you believe me, why, then I Ve to ask, 
That, till Fortune betimes readjust me. 
With dollars and dimes for my yarns and my 

rhymes, 
You shall still continue to trust me. 
October, 1889. 

Here is the uniquely humorous way 
in which Field addressed the envelope 
of a letter to his friend Edmund Clar- 
ence Stedman: 

There is herein a plaintive ditty 
For E. C. Stedman, New York city ; 
In Broadway, 66, fourth story. 
You '11 find the same in all his glory. 
So take this packet to that Stedman, 
Or, by St. Hocus ! you 're a dead man! 

H 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Field was very fertile in jocular in- 
vention and very swift to seize upon a 
suggestion. 

He was one of the journalists who 
once accompanied Carl Schurz from 
St. Louis on a political campaign 
through Missouri. At one of their 
halting places the gentleman who was 
to introduce Mr. Schurz did not put in 
an appearance. It was suggested that 
Field make the introductory remarks. 
The audience was large and expecta- 
tion ran high. Field puffed out his 
chest and, assuming a super-dignified 
manner and a strong German accent, 
addressed the meeting as follows : 

Ladies and Chentlemens : 

I have such a severe colt dot I cannot make me 
a speedg to-night, but I haf die bleasure of to intro- 
duce to you my prilliant young chournalistic gom- 
panion, Mr. Eucheene Fielt, who will spheak in my 
blace. 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

With this Mr. Schurz was presented, 
it is said, in no very pleasant frame of 
mind. The explanation which followed 
caused uproarious laughter. One can 
but marvel at Field's temerity, for he 
was wholly unknown at the time. 

In seeking a verification of this story 
the following letter was received from 
Mr. Schurz : 

Whether the Eugene Field anecdote you mention 
in your letter is literally true, I do not now remem- 
ber. But I should not wonder if it were. He and 
another gentleman accompanied me on a " stump- 
ing" tour in Missouri in 1874, and he constantly 
amused and sometimes astonished us with his hu- 
morous pranks. The one you speak of may well 
have been one of them. 

Here is an illustration of the readi- 
ness with which he extricated himself 
from an embarrassing situation. He 
had invited some friends to a Sunday 
dinner at his home on FuUerton Ave- 
i6 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

nue. His waitress, guided by that in- 
comprehensible vagary that seizes upon 
serving folk at the most inopportune 
times, suddenly "turned up missing." 
This seemed to give him no concern, 
and in the few minutes' chat before the 
meal was announced, it was noticed 
that he made a pleasant but gratuitous 
allusion to " Camille " — the serving 
maid. This, though not remarked upon, 
was thought to be a rather romantic 
name for a servant. Occasionally Field 
would mysteriously disappear in the 
direction of the kitchen and anon re- 
turn and pick up the threads of conver- 
sation. 

When he opened the dining-room 
doors it was seen that soup was al- 
ready served; this course finished, the 
bell was rung for "Camille." But no 
"Camille" appeared. Field went to 

17 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

the door and called : " Camille ! " first 
softly, and then very loudly, — but still 
no "Camille" appeared. There was an 
awkward pause and an interrogatory 
exchange of frigidities between host 
and hostess. Just as the guests had 
settled down to the unpleasant convic- 
tion that they were to witness an ex- 
ceedingly embarrassing family jar. Field, 
with the remark that he would shame 
" Camille," gathered up the empty soup 
dishes and dashed into the kitchen. 
There was some nervous speculation as 
to what would happen next. There 
were disputatious voices from the culi- 
nary department which those of the 
dining-room tried to drown in a ram- 
bling chatter. Suddenly the door opens 
and a huge platter of roast beef comes 
smoking into view. It is steered by 
Field, wearing the most expansive of 
i8 




Field as the Waitress -CamiJJe" 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

foreign smiles, a cook's white cap and 
a muslin apron tied high up under his 
arms in the most ridiculous fashion. 

" Camille " had arrived ! It was all a 
joke — the tension was loosened and 
hilarity reigned. He was radiant with 
the success of his trick, which was many 
times more amusing in the happening 
than it could possibly be in the narra- 
tion. Everybody's enjoyment of it was 
very keen. Dotted over a period of years, 
and thus showing his appreciation of 
appreciation, would come in Field's 
letters some such allusion as : "I will 
now repair to the kitchen to help Ca- 
mille bail soup for the vesper meal" — 
or, "Eighteen years ago I was so 
happy! And now upon this anniver- 
sary we are to have fried sausages for 
dinner. I think I will step down into 
the pantry and lick Camille." 
19 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

The plan hit upon to gain a much- 
needed increase in salary from his em- 
ployer, the proprietor of the "Daily 
News," was as original and as success- 
ful a bit of fooling as Field ever con- 
ceived and carried to completion. He 
was of too sensitive a nature to invite 
the shock of a direct refusal, and so 
absenting himself from the office for a 
few days, he finally returned with four 
of his children, who, with himself, were 
in as dilapidated a condition as it was 
possible for mortals to be and still retain 
a measure of dignity and self-respect. 
Once in the presence of his employer 
the five went through a series of appeal- 
ing gestures and glances, never speak- 
ing, until Field at length pitifully asked: 
" Please, Mr. Stone, can't you see your 
way to raise my salary ? " 

Field's estimate of his long-time pa- 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

tron may be gathered from this quaint 
inscription in a book : 

To Melville E. Stone, once my employer, always 
my creditor, eternally my friend. 

The more unusual the situation, par- 
ticularly if it partook of the ludicrous, 
the more enthusiastically he surrendered 
himself to its requirements. 

It was the custom at the office of 
the " News " at Christmas-time to give 
a turkey to each of the employees. 
Field wrote the head of the paper that 
he should prefer the Yuletide courtesy 
in his own case to take the form of a suit 
of clothes. Here was so good a chance 
to joke the joker that it must not be 
neglected. In compliance with the letter 
of his request, a full suit of convict's 
clothes was sent to him. For a long time 
after this, whenever strangers came to 

21 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

the " News " office, Field would don this 
prison suit, and with shovel and coal- 
scuttle in hand, having somehow man- 
aged to engage the visitors in conversa- 
tion, he would, in perfect keeping with 
the character which he was portraying, 
descant volubly upon the wisdom and 
economy of convict labor. 

At Denver, Field gave himself over 
to even wilder boyish pranks, as when 
arrayed in a velveteen coat and knee- 
breeches, and with a huge sunflower in 
his hand, he rode through the city in 
an open barouche, being mistaken by 
the wondering populace for a well- 
known esthete who was hourly ex- 
pected. 

He was a very clubable as well as a 
very neighborly man. Few people of 
importance went to Chicago who were 
not entertained by him at the Union 

22 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

League. He was a much sought-for 
neighbor, and always very welcome. 
At his home in Buena Park, a suburb 
of Chicago, one would always be sure 
on any summer's day to find a crowd, 
and Field, the central figure, hilari- 
ously entertaining them. The children 
flocked about him, and he won their 
little hearts by the narration of most 
marvellous tales, invented on the spot. 
He joked his neighbors in public and 
in private. If they affected dogs, he 
wrote droll stories of their pups. If 
they were fond of plants, he would take 
them slips with extraordinary botanical 
names; these, with great ceremony, he 
planted on their lawns, and then under- 
went much good-natured scolding when 
the plants proved to be Canada thistle. 
He sometimes figured at a disadvan- 
tage in a joke, but the uncommon good 
23 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

humor with which he accepted the situ- 
ation greatly heightened the enjoyment 
of it, as the following incident will 
show. 

Dressed in a new white flannel suit, 
and acting as escort and guide to a 
party of eastern friends at the Colum- 
bian Exposition, Field halted them, en 
route, at a druggist's, for soda water. 
Owing to the heat of the day, and the 
better to enjoy the beverage, he sat 
down on the ledge of the low window- 
shelf generally used by the druggist 
for the display of wares. Unfortu- 
nately, and as a matter of course un- 
consciously, he sat on a large piece of 
molasses-like fly-paper. 

When he rose to place his empty 

glass upon the counter, the fly-paper 

rose with him. Its infatuation for his 

person was extravagant, its adjustment 

24 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

thereto perfect. Not a corner was rum- 
pled. Not a fly escaped. Poor Field 
had just been introduced to a young 
woman of the party to whom he was 
especially gallant. When he became 
aware of the state of affairs, rudely 
warned as he was by the snickering of 
the assembled people, he was divided 
between chagrin and a proper apprecia- 
tion of the comic side of the situation. 
Happily the latter prevailed, and by 
dint of much strength and perseverance 
the druggist succeeded in disembarrass- 
ing him of his impromptu plaster. His 
coat stuck to his trousers, his trousers 
stuck to him ; and during the continu- 
ance of the journey it was very amusing 
to see Field surreptitiously pull aside 
his constantly clinging garments. 

He had been jesting that day over a 
friend who hyphened his own name. 
25 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Next morning he received a note bear- 
ing the following superscription : 



Eugene Fly-paper-Fly-paper Fields Esq., 
Buena Park, 

Ills. 



The association of Field and Mr. 
George W. Cable in a lecturing tour 
though interesting for the public, was 
about as quaint and strange a combina- 
tion as one can well imagine. Cable 
is all gentleness and suavity ; Field, on 
the other hand, was bristling and bois- 
terous. It is likely that Cable never 
quite knew just what unusual thing 
Field was going to do next. Certain 
it is that Field gave him many anxious 
moments. It was not that Field meant 
to worry his companion, but he was 
26 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

aware that Cable regarded him as a 
strangely composite creature, and he 
could not resist the mischievous delight 
which he found in corroborating such 
an estimate. It was understood that 
Field had presented Mr. Cable with a 
book containing a humorous inscrip- 
tion, and in the hope of eliciting some 
fresh word anent his " partner," a letter 
was addressed to him on the subject, 
and there was received the following 

reply : 

Northampton, Mass., 24 September, 1896. 
I seize with eagerness the opportunity you give 
me to speak a word of tribute to the winning per- 
sonal qualities of Eugene Field. His eccentricities 
were so many and so droll that one need not dwell 
a moment upon them, save to say that with them 
all he was still, in work, in travel, and in sojourn, 
a companion of unfailing and irresistible charm. I 
doubt if I could name another man of my acquain- 
tance who so deftly and unfailingly, or with such 
apparent unconsciousness, adapted others to him- 
self and himself to them at one and the same time. 

27 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

During one season we journeyed much together, 
lodged in the same hotels and homes, were com- 
rades alone and guests in large companies; but I 
never saw the hour when he was not in buoyant 
spirits, mirthful, kind, and witty. 

The inscription spoken of is in a book of his own 
which he gave me, and reads as follows : 
"To my beloved but wicked partner, George W. 
Cable, from Eugene Field." 
Yours truly, 

G. W. Cable. 

While Field and Cable were lectur- 
ing at the Walnut Street Theatre, Phila- 
delphia, desiring to greet the former, 
I slipped back of the scenes and 
found him tilted in a chair, feet on ta- 
ble, book in hand, reading over the 
poem which he was about to recite. 
The Cable-Field reading was in the 
afternoon, and Lottie Collins, the serio- 
comic vocalist, was to occupy the the- 
atre in the evening. It was in Miss 
CoUins's room that Field was sitting, 
28 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

and stage paraphernalia were all about. 
A glittering hat-pin was remarked in 
the lapel of Field's coat, and he was 
questioned about it. " You see," he 
said, " I am making a collection of 
rhinestone hat-pins ; and, travelling as I 
am, lecturing in various theatres, I have 
exceptional opportunities for picking 
up such souvenirs at a very low price." 
While it could hardly be said that 
Field was of the kind who " never kept 
a professional, nor broke a social, en- 
gagement," he certainly delighted in his 
reputation for eccentricity. Once when 
the reading was about to begin, Mr. 
Cable was pained to receive a telegram 
from Field announcing his sudden ill- 
ness, which would prevent his presence 
at the entertainment. Sorrowing for his 
associate, Cable got through the even- 
ing as best he could. The following 
29 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

morning, meeting one of the business 
staff, Cable inquired anxiously for 
Field, and felt sure the illness must 
have been of a serious nature. " I think 
not," replied the gentleman addressed, 
" I did n't notice anything unusual. I 
sat next to him last night in the theatre 
in Philadelphia." 

"Why, Field," exclaimed Cable, 
when they met, " how could you do so *? 
Do you know you disappointed over a 
thousand people ? " 

"Cable," said Field, solemnly, "I 
don't care a snap about the thousand 
people ; it is on your account and yours 
only that I am deeply contrite." " And," 
added Cable, " he said it as if that ex- 
planation really explained." 

" When we were in Minneapolis," 
went on Mr. Cable, "we were asked to be 
the guests of a very dear friend of Field's, 
30 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Mr. Sol Smith Russell. Mr. Russell, 
on account of his professional engage- 
ments, could not be at home to wel- 
come us, but Mrs. Russell was there to 
do us honor. With both Field and 
myself to entertain, I feared we were 
crowding the limits of her hospitality. 
Imagine, if you please, my astonish- 
ment when Field introduced a third 
member of our party, a seven-foot 
relative, with the off-hand remark, 
*This is only my cousin — put him 
anywhere, he '11 be satisfied ! ' " 

Blessed with unusual mimetic power, 
a retentive memory, much magnetism, 
a strong love and knowledge of dra- 
matic climaxes, sensitively impression- 
able and able faithfully to depict the 
thing seen or imagined, Field in all 
likelihood would have achieved no little 
success as an actor. 

31 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Indeed, at one time Field was very 
ambitious for histrionic honors. On 
coming into his patrimony one of the 
first things he did was to provide him- 
self with a complete outfit of theatrical 
costumes for such characters as Hamlet^ 
Lear^ Othello^ etc. These costumes he 
exhibited to his friends with great pride. 
He organized a company of his own 
in conjunction with his friend Marvin 
Eddy, who tells of a comedy Field 
wrote in which the heroines were im- 
personated by Field himself to the he- 
roes of the only other acting member 
of the cast — Mr. Eddy. A Madame 
Saunders was the orchestra or, rather, 
the pianist, and Monsieur Saunders 
painted the posters which announced 
the coming of the "great and only" 
entertainment. Rehearsals were held 
in the parlors of the hotels, and the 
32 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

"show" was given in the hotel dining- 
rooms. While a darky carried a pla- 
card of announcement, the result of 
Saunders's artistic handiwork, the local 
band, specially engaged, played in front 
of the principal places in town. Mr. 
Eddy recalls that Field had a sweet 
bass voice which he used with much 
effect both in songs and recitations. 

The season, confined to such towns 
in Missouri as Carrollton, Richnrond, 
etc., lasted about two weeks and was 
what the papers would call a succes 
d'estime. A consultation was held as 
to the advisability of giving the people 
of Kansas City an opportunity to judge 
of the new histrion's quality, but it was 
concluded that Kansas City had done 
nothing to warrant such an invasion — 
which proves unusual wisdom on Field's 
part at so early an age — twenty-two. 
33 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

It was a tradition of the family that 
the brothers would prosper either as 
musicians or actors, and if his lot had 
been cast with the players, Field would 
have risen far above mediocrity. Such, 
at least, was the impression gathered by 
his friends of the dramatic art, some of 
the exponents of which he would mimic 
with startling fidelity. Here was con- 
firmative evidence of the man's versa- 
tility of talent, of his being much to 
everybody and dissimilar to all. For his 
friends of the cloth he wrote the most 
beautiful prayers and made charming 
paraphrases of the psalms. He thought 
the desire of those who wanted him to 
be a minister had got into his blood ; 
for, as he said, he had always to preach 
some little verses, else he could not get 
through Christmas-tide. He delighted 
in his power of adaptability, and made 

34 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

its results increasingly happy. Irrespec- 
tive of circumstances, he bore himself 
with admirable judgment and adequate 
knowledge of his part. He was no 
niggard with his talents, and gave liber- 
ally of the best he could command. He 
was ambitious to excel and strove hard 
to lead, a trait especially characteristic 
of him from youth to manhood. 

In his later years he suffered from an 
aggravated form of nervous dyspepsia. 
It would seem that this had been 
brought about by his excessive indul- 
gence in tobacco, and by a lack of 
sufficient outdoor exercise. He was 
passionately devoted to reading in bed, 
when, like Charles Lamb, his " mid- 
night darlings" were indeed his trea- 
sured books. He would smoke the 
while; then, in the small hours, extin- 
guishing the light and folding himself 

35 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

chiefly in the fames of tobacco, he 
would go to sleep. Naturally this 
made such inroads upon his constitu- 
tion that, when it was too late, he gave 
up tobacco and travelled for his health 
to Europe, to New Orleans, to San 
Francisco, but it was all of little avail. 

While in California, Field visited 
some relatives at Alameda, near San 
Francisco. He had heard a good deal 
of " the glorious climate," and, after his 
arrival, a never-ending clamor about it. 
Certainly he was a fit subject for its be- 
neficent effect, but the low tone of his 
health, the sluggishness of his blood, 
made it impossible for him to keep 
warm. He saw no glory in the climate, 
and, sadly enough, it held no curative 
qualities for him. He grew discour- 
aged, and denounced the country and 
everything concerning it with great 
36 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

bitterness. One morning he was found 
in a closet of his room hugging a gas 
stove, striving to extract enough heat to 
dispel the chill in his bones. 

It was hoped he had slept well. He 
had n't done any such thing; his rest 
had been disturbed with a wretched 
dream. He had dreamed that his host 
and cousin had died and gone to 
heaven. At the gates of the celestial 
city St. Peter was encountered, and per- 
mission to enter had been refused unless 
the applicant's name were on the heav- 
enly records. 

" What was the name ? " 

" Field." 

"Oh, yes; Gene Field!" said the 
saint, enthusiastically. " Walk in, Mr. 
Field ! Very glad, indeed, to welcome 
you. There are hosts of children await- 
ing your coming." 

37 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

"No," replied the other, "unfortu- 
nately I am not Eugene Field, but I 
am his cousin, Henry Field." 

" Pardon me," replied St. Peter, " I 
must look over my book." 

A careful examination failed to find 
the name, and the applicant was told 
that he must go down-stairs, and down 
below the cousin was obliged to go. 

At the door of Hades sat his Plu- 
tonic majesty, with horns and hoofs 
and forked tail. 

"I suppose," said the cousin, "that 
there is little need to ask if my name be 
inscribed upon your books ? It must be." 

"We '11 see," said the Devil. But 
here again was disappointment, for 
Satan could not find the name of 
Field's relative, and Cousin Henry was 
told, with a shake of the head, that he 
could not enter. 

38 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

" What ! '' shrieked he, in absolute 
despair, " is it possible that, after all, 
I must go back and live in Alameda ! " 

It is not claimed that Field was the 
originator of this story; he may only 
have adapted it to his purpose, but it 
was an actual occurrence with him, and, 
as such, illustrative of the sufferer's 
grim humor, it is here presented. 

Latterly Field became more thought- 
ful and serious. We are told that in 
his last year he seemed to be making 
an unconscious preparation for the life 
beyond. Not to have known him in 
that year is never to realize the full 
beauty of his nature. 

It is easy to believe that this " sweet- 
ening of a character already lovable to 
an unusual degree " took place ; for who 
can suppose that any man could speak 
so directly from the heart, and not be 

39 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

the better for the tender nobility of his 
utterances ? 

Why may it not be frankly said that 
Eugene Field was as full of human 
nature as are most men? He had 
his weaknesses and his strengths. In 
common with the rest of mankind, 
he said and did things which he 
might have wished unsaid and undone; 
Field was what he was, and Uncle 
Toby was not the only one whose un- 
conventional English the Recording 
Angel might be willing to blot out 
with a tear. We love a man, not be- 
cause of his faults, but despite them. 
When we come to be weighed in the 
balance of friendship, we may count 
ourselves fortunate indeed if the mea- 
sure of our shortcomings is not in excess 
of what we knew Field to possess. He 
was a great, manly, talented, tender- 
40 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

hearted, lovable fellow, whose kind- 
nesses and courtesies were many and 
frequent. 

He had no squeamishness, yet I 
never heard him tell a coarse story ; he 
appeared only to see the point of a 
joke without respect to the possible of- 
fensiveness of its setting. 

It is to be doubted if Field ever did 
anybody an injury in the whole course 
of his life; and if I know anything 
about him at all, I know that even a 
slight injustice would have been more 
painful to him than to the person upon 
whom he might have inflicted it. 

Nothing could have been worse for 
Field than his trip in 1889 to London, 
where the weather and the frequent in- 
vitations to dine, which he knew not 
how to refuse, told severely upon him. 
" Talk about weather,'' he writes from 

41 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

London, "this is the most abominable 
climate I ever experimented with. 
Elsewhere I should have been well 
long ago; but I am so nervous that I 
dread travel and the excitement incident 
thereto. My inclination is to stay in 
the house, keep warm, read and write, 
and digest my simple food." 
And again : 

What exceeding folly was it that tempted me to 
cross the sea in search of what I do not seem able 
to find here — a righteous stomach ? I have been 
wallowing in the slough of despond for a week, and 
my digestive apparatus has gone wrong again. I 
have suffered tortures that would have done credit 
to the inventive genius of a Dante; and the natural 
consequence is, that I am as blue as a whetstone. 

He seemed always to have had the 
inclination to " stay in the house, keep 
warm, and read and write," and it was 
this sedentary practice in early life, as 
I have said, which worked him such 
42 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

injury. He seemed never to be able 
to keep comfortable, and he once de- 
clared he had written everything thus 
far " freezing to death." 

The insinuating mists and fogs of 
London would have tried sufficiently 
his waning health ; but when he threw 
himself into the swirl of gastronomic 
London, where everything, even a birth 
or a death, is seized upon as a pretext 
for a dinner, he was guilty of the ex- 
treme of dietetic indiscretion. 

On these occasions Field met most 
of the English literary world, and the 
descriptions he wrote to his friends of 
these feasts and those who attended 
them make racy reading. Indeed, since 
he was one of the most interesting and 
careful of letter-writers, a published se- 
lection of these letters would not fail 
to attract a host of readers. One can 

43 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

imagine the surprise of Mrs. Humphry 
Ward, who had asked him about the 
manners and customs of the people of 
America, when Field replied that when 
he was first caught he was up a tree ! 

His characterization of a number of 
the London booksellers as robbers 
was as true as it was quaint. His fa- 
vorite browsing-place while in London 
was Sotheran's, where he found " a vast 
number of second-hand books at reason- 
able prices." He did not fail to observe 
that the prices took a strong upward 
tendency when the dealer suspected his 
customer to be an American. He railed 
against this to the dealers, and in no 
measured terms. 

A friend who was in London with 
Field, " in the fall of '89," says : 

One episode there was particularly 
dear to Field. An American, on the 

44 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

eve of sailing, found himself with but 
a few dollars, after buying his ticket 
to America. He dropped around to 
Field's house for a loan. He got it. 

Two hours later an express wagon 
left a load of presents at the little house 
in Alfred Place. There were pictures 
and trinkets for the ladies, expensive 
Paris umbrellas for the girls, a big 
rocking-chair for Eugene, books and 
other things for the boys. They were 
picturesquely strewn about the sitting- 
room. Field took in the situation with 
a comprehensive glance, his face beam- 
ing as he read a note from his depart- 
ing friend, thanking them all for their 
kindnesses, and begging the acceptance 
of the presents with his friendship and 
love. 

" Is n't he a jewel!" exclaimed Field. 
" I adore that man. His presents have 

45 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

cost me just one hundred dollars!' In 
his simplicity Charley thinks I will 
never know that my money paid for 
them. He has forgotten by this time 
that he ever borrowed it. We 11 never 
hear of it again. That 's what I call 
humor — true American humor. All 
the family are pleased with their pres- 
ents, Charley is sailing home with a 
heart full of joy and gratitude, and I 'm 
tickled to death. He has repaid me a 
thousand times and made us all happy. 
God bless his dear old Connecticut 
soul ! " 

It was at this period, in London, that 
Field wrote his patriotic poems "Stoves 
and Sunshine" and "John Smith." 

His health had improved but little 

at the time of his return to America. 

However much the knowledge of his 

condition weighed upon him in private, 

46 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

he appeared the same fun-loving, viva- 
cious companion as of old, and he stood 
nobly by his resolve not to let his ail- 
ment jaundice his work. Later his com- 
plaint increased so greatly that he was 
obliged to deny himself the privilege 
of dining at his own table. Stouter 
hearts than his would have quailed 
under so much suffering, yet he had 
little or no fear of the result. The idea 
of death was as far from Eugene Field's 
thoughts as it is to most men in full 
habit and health. In the sketch of his 
life which he wrote for inquiring friends. 
Field declared that if he lived, as he 
unquestionably thought he should, he 
would do his best literary work when 
he was a grandfather. 

He was the moving spirit in the 
meeting of a set of congenial people — 
ministers, literary men, actors, lecturers, 

47 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

and bookmen — at McClurg's store in 
Chicago; and he called this motley 
gathering the "Saints and Sinners," and 
the place of their meeting the " Saints 
and Sinners' Corner." 

Wherever Field lived, he was always 
a well-known character to booksellers. 
When he came to Chicago in 1883 ^^ 
was drawn irresistibly toward McClurg's 
book-store. 

The gentleman who had charge of 
the rare-book department soon learned 
Field's name, and the fact that he was 
connected with the " Daily News." 
Field's enthusiasm for books was evi- 
dent, and before long he was on terms 
of intimacy with all the frequenters of 
the place, and, additionally attracted by 
the charm of Field's personality, they 
became very regular in their attendance. 
Thus, without further ceremony, about 
48 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

the year 1883 came into being the 
" Saints and Sinners' Club." There was 
much merriment at the gatherings, 
which were purely impromptu; and 
Field took to reporting them in his 
"Sharps and Flats" column of the 
"News." The sayings were cleverly 
amplified and edited, and oftentimes 
existed only in the imagination of the 
reporter; but each man's fad was care- 
fully set forth and cleverly adhered to, 
and thus Field found a pleasant way to 
furnish material for his paper and to 
gratify his friends by kindly public ut- 
terances. 

Not long before his death he strolled 
into the " Corner " and said most pa- 
thetically that he wished Mr. Millard 
would send up one of the low chairs of 
the Saints and Sinners' Corner. On be- 
ing asked what on earth he could want 
49 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

with one of the chairs, Field replied 
that some of the members of the Club 
would be dying off one of these days, 
and he would like a chair as a souvenir. 
It was sent to him, but how little he 
dreamed that of the pleasant gathering 
of friends, of which he was the ac- 
knowledged leader, he himself would 
be the first to cross the Stygian ferry ! 
Field was very much attached to the 
Rev. Dr. Frank M. Bristol and the 
Rev. Dr. Frank Gunsaulus. These two, 
with the Rev. Dr. Stryker, were the 
Saints of the Saints and Sinners' Corner. 
Field was very circumspect in their 
presence, and took great pains to please 
them, both as a man and as a writer. 
He was equally desirous that his friends 
and acquaintances who visited the Cor- 
ner with him for the first time, and met 
the Saints, should appear well in their 
50 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

eyes. Once, when a certain gentleman 
inadvertently used the word "damn" in 
their presence, Field appeared shocked, 
and apologetically observed that he had 
never heard the gentleman use that 
word before. This was all very gro- 
tesque to those who knew Field, when 
the fever was upon him, to be a most 
fertile producer of expletives both 
forcible and picturesque. 

At times his ecclesiastical book-loving 
friends, tiring of some of their literary 
possessions, would seek cheap access to 
" fresh woods and pastures new " in the 
world of books by swapping. This 
greatly amused Field, who used to take 
pains to point out to " the parsons," as 
he called them, what he believed to be 
the error of their ways. Sometimes it 
would be by a few lines laid in books 
which he knew they were likely to 

51 



The Eugene Fi^eltd I. Knew 

read, or by some such method as fol- 
lows. On a blood-red sheet of paper 
enclosed in a blood-red envelope, and 
left in the Saints and Sinners' Corner, 
was written : 

In Trust for the Preachers. 

The Epistle of 

St. Eugene to St. Francis. 

A. D. 1893. 

Published by the Chicago Tract Society 

(Elevated). 

And then, with borders of black and 
gold, came 

THE EPISTLE. 
When man forsakes the narrow path 

Which righteous Presbyterians tread, 
He dons the ribald garb of wrath 

And flaunts the wicked color, red. 

His hat and socks of carmine hue 
Offend his brethren's startled gaze ; 

His shoes are red, his kerchief too 
With vanities, vermilion blaze. 

52 






^tt/l^ e/l- OO, j^li^'TA^tUAj) ^ gf^l^ ,yy,yy^ rtvi^ ^^.i^A- 



'oiMUj H^AtJkj So, '^^VnA.ueLu /^w^A 'fj-(-irn^i^u -lo 4^ '^^-tm^c^MjLiiU^ 









ftu. 



^IV fnjUUAAv^ duu-uu^, (^UMa. IM,,i(i-Qi, ' 



I 



The Eugene' Field I Knew 

And flaming thus from head to foot, 
He boldly stalks from bad to worse, 

Pining to paint creation red — 
And all is read except his verse. 

Pastors, I know whereof I speak ; 

Oh ! shun Damnation's yawning brink, 
And orthodox salvation seek 

In cream-white note and violet ink. 

The accompanying fac-simile letter 
to the Rev. Dr. Frank M. Bristol is a 
characteristic exposition of the thorough 
understanding Field had of his art and 
its tools, of the care he took in compo- 
sition, and also of the extent to which 
he would go to prove a disputed liter- 
ary point. Note the touch of humor in 
the concluding lines. 

Not infrequently with him, as with 
most book-hunters, it happened that a 
volume which he ferreted out and cov- 
eted would be held at a price higher 
than the one for which he fancied by 
53 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

patient waiting and judicious silence it 
might be acquired ultimately. And it 
also happened to him, as to most book- 
hunters, that the chance to purchase at 
any price was lost because the book 
would be snapped up by some prowl- 
ing bibliophile. This would grieve 
him and, if he knew the purchaser, he 
would often lament in verse on the " end 
papers," as, after the following fashion, 
he did in a curious old book by Dr. 
William King, called "The Art of 
Cookery In Imitation of Horace's Art 
of Poetry " : 

So Wilson gets this curious book ; 

Well, he is my M^cenas, 
And, maybe, he will send it me — 

Though this is quite between us. 

But elsewise let his gentle spouse 

Peruse it with attention, 
And duly seize on recipes 

Too numerous to mention, 

54 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Then when I come she '11 fix me up 

With classic tarts and jellies ; 
And that 's the food that bodeth good 

For all dyspeptic bellies. 

In a costly volume near the Saints 
and Sinners' Corner was found a slip of 
paper, on which was written this para- 
phrase of the inscription on Shake- 
speare's tomb : 

Swete friend, for Jesus* sake forbeare 
To buy ye boke thou findest here, 
For that when I do get ye pelf, 
I meane to buy ye boke my selfe. 

Eugene Field. 

The spirit which urged Field on to 
such pranks was the spirit we knew 
and loved and applauded. 

The annual home-coming from Eu- 
rope of the head of McClurg's rare-book 
department, with a consignment of Hor- 
aces, Hazlitts, Leigh Hunts, and Lambs, 
and even a lot of " plug " Kelmscotts, 
55 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

was once thus celebrated by Field in 
the " Daily News " : 

George Millard is home! 
Come, ye maniacs, as of yore. 
From your musty, dusty hidings, 
And in answer to the tidings 
Crowd the Corner full once more. 
Lo, from distant England's shore. 
Laden down with spoils galore. 
Such as bibliophiles adore — 
Books and prints in endless store, 
Treasures singly or in set 
' (Labelled " jkt " and " net ") — 
George returns to gratify 
All who have the means to buy 
Things that glad the heart and eye. 
Ye who seek some rare old tome- 
Maniacs shrewd or imbecilic. 
Urban, pastoral, or idyllic. 
Richly clad or dishabillic— 
Heed the summons bibliophillic: 

" George Millard is home! " 

Field was almost theatrical in his 
love of effect, and would take great 
pains to bring about the conditions 
56 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

necessary to the successful outcome of 
any of his serious or humorous projects. 

He was very fond of surprises. One 
of the most impressive of the many he 
gave his friends was the reading of one 
of his best poems. He had summoned, 
by written invitation, all the Saints and 
Sinners who were in Chicago on New 
Year's Eve, 1891. A goodly number 
responded. As the hands of the clock 
were on the verge of midnight, he rose, 
and turned out the gas. The store was 
sepulchrally dark. Then for the first 
time he recited, by the light of a single 
candle, " Dibdin's Ghost." 

Field's mind and heart were wide 
open to the sunshine of humor and the 
joy of laughter. He declared that the 
man who neglected an opportunity to 
laugh was as injudicious as he who 
denied himself a proper amount of fresh 
57 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

air; then, with fatal inconsistency, he 
himself revelled in laughter, but stayed 
indoors. His boyish sport was conta- 
gious; it was as if one's glee longed 
to take on a personal form and shake 
hands with his equally personified mer- 
riment. He characterized those wet 
blankets, those assassinators of mirth, 
who refuse to believe that the cheer- 
ful man can be possessed of a refined 
sensibility, as drones in the hive of 
happiness, and he thought they mer- 
ited the fate of their insect confreres, 
Viewed in the light of policy alone, 
he believed in laughter, and thought 
it the surest way to make people 
kind. What misfortune, he said, was 
ever made the lighter by grief? What 
misfortune ever made the heavier by 
laughter? Since when are people at- 
tracted by sighs? Since when are 
58 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

people repelled by smiles ? If one is pa- 
tronized merely because one smiles, how 
easy to repay one's patrons with a smirk ! 
But so varied were Field's talents 
that he not only repaid his public with 
smiles, but with tears. Such poems as 
"Little Boy Blue," "Martha's Youn- 
kit," the dedicatory lines of his first 
book of verse, "A Lyttle Boy," the 
lines inscribed to his wife in the " Sec- 
ond Book of Verse," the more serious 
of his stories in "A Little Book of 
Profitable Tales," such as "The First 
Christmas Tree," " The Coming of the 
Prince," "Margaret, a Pearl," "The Oak 
Tree and the Ivy," " The Little Yaller 
Baby," amply and sweetly confirm his 
capacity for tenderness. The subtle, 
sympathetic power to touch the heart 
and moisten the eye was his indeed, 
and noble use he made of it. 

59 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

From those who knew him but 
slightly, his youthful spirit, with its 
love of practical jokes, brought him less 
credit as a scholar than he deserved. 
He was "a hard sitter at books," or, 
rather, a hard lier at them, for nearly all 
his reading, which covered a wide range, 
was done in bed. He was constant in 
his love for Horace, who retained until 
the very last the warmest place in his 
affections, and he owned many impor- 
tant editions of this poet's works. He 
read and remembered much folk-lore 
and fairy literature, and professed a be- 
lief in ghosts and witches — a belief in 
which he was scarcely sincere, but 
toward which he was finely sympa- 
thetic. 

Field knew much Latin and some 
Greek. He made paraphrases of French 
songs, and his knowledge of Beranger 
60 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

and Heine was both wide and accurate. 
Hans Christian Andersen stood high in 
Field's literary appreciation, and all the 
fairy books of various hues which An- 
drew Lang has given us, Field nearly 
knew by heart. He learned early and 
practised assiduously the art of pluck- 
ing out the heart of the books which 
he meant should serve him. He had a 
perfect nose for scenting the arrival at 
the Saints and Sinners' Corner of all 
volumes on quaint subjects. He was 
a book-lover of a pronounced type, and, 
like the sister of the Canon of Canter- 
bury, he was much given " to the drug 
called learning." 

He especially delighted in children 
who, like himself, were fond of fairy- 
tales, folk-lore, and mythology, who 
loved Santa Claus, and who had suffi- 
cient imagination to see things at night. 
6i 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

In the chapter headed " The Luxury of 
Reading in Bed," in his " The Love 
Affairs of a Bibliomaniac," there is an 
inviting resume of the literature of the 
subject. He believed, with Beecher, 
that love of knowledge comes with 
reading and grows upon it, that chil- 
dren learn to read by being in the 
presence of books ; and he felt that a 
house without books was a Sahara. No 
family, no individual, ever came to 
know Eugene Field whose enthusiasm 
on the subject of reading was not there- 
by augmented. Few books, he thought, 
were written in vain. He had no sym- 
pathy whatever with the latter-day cry 
of over-production in books, and he 
felt that it was with them, as with 
individuals, a simple matter of the sur- 
vival of the fittest. He agreed, on the 
other hand, with Austin Dobson that 
62 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

a book was still a book, 

Where a wistful man might look, 
Finding something through the whole, 
Beating— like a human soul. 



Though he did not lack in piety, 
such was his love of a good book that 
he felt with Charles Lamb that grace 
before Milton, or grace before Shake- 
speare, or grace before any author whose 
work has enriched the world, was as 
essential as grace before meat. 

In the treatment of books he had all 
the delicacy of the great Bishop of Dur- 
ham, who thought that one ought to 
care far more diligently for a book than 
for a boot. With the Bishop he in- 
veighed against the presumption of 
touching them with "an unclean hand," 
of opening them in headlong haste and 
"throwing them away" without first 
closing them. He was always amused 

63 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

by the incident of the Bishop's botani- 
cal student who was " a neglector rather 
than an inspector " of books, who would 
stuff his book with the violet, the prim- 
rose, and the rose, and who would then 
" apply his watery hands, all damp with 
sweat, to turning over the volumes, and 
with his finger gloved in long used 
leather, will hunt o'er the pages, line by 
line. Then, at the nip of the biting 
flea, the holy book is flung aside and is 
scarcely shut within a month, but be- 
comes so swollen with dust that has 
fallen into it that it cannot obey the 
effort of one who would close it." 

Field was indeed a book-lover who 
revelled in all the delight and all the 
anguish of bibliomania. Even the 
odor which his books exhaled gave 
him pleasure, and furnished him with 
a theme for this little poem: 
64 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

My garden aboundeth in pleasant nooks, 

And fragrance is over it all ; 
For sweet is the smell of my old, old books 

In their places against the wall. 

In Walton the brooks a-babbling tell 
Where the cheery daisy grows, 

And where in meadow or woodland dwell 
The buttercup and the rose. 

Come, pluck with me in my garden nooks 

The posies that blow for all ; 
Oh, sweet is the smell of my old, old books 

In their places against the wall ! 



He never talked much of his own 
writings, but would not submit to an 
obvious misconception respecting them. 
A friend who was making a list of 
books for a collection of "Juvenilia," 
asked Field for as many titles as he 
could recall that should also include 
"A Little Book of Profitable Tales." 

" But," said Field, " ' A Little Book 
6s 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

of Profitable Tales ' was not written for 
children." 

Many of his stories, and some of his 
poems, show a familiarity with techni- 
cal medical phrases which he used hu- 
morously. Suffering as he did a good 
part of his life from a weak stomach, 
which he characterized as his "rebellious 
midriff," it is not remarkable that he 
should have turned his attention to 
pathology and therapeutics. His know- 
ledge of their nomenclature, "as writ in 
books," not only astonished the reader, 
but was even unusual. 

Chaucer's works he knew inside out 
and upside down; also straight ahead, 
as most of us would like to know him. 
He has given us numerous imitations 
and paraphrases of Chaucer's style and 
forms of expression, as well as those 
of Sir John Suckling and Edmund 
66 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Spenser. He was upon terms of great 
intimacy with Boccaccio's writings, and 
the poem describing the discovery of 
the "brown-paper copy" of the great 
ItaUan's " Decameron " is alike humor- 
ous and pathetic : 

One day, upon a topmost shelf, 
I found a precious prize indeed. 

Which father used to read himself, 
But did not want us boys to read. 



I never heard that name before. 
But in due season it became 

To him who fondly brooded o'er 
Those pages, a beloved name! 

So rest you there upon the shelf, 
Clad in your garb of faded brown; 

Perhaps, sometime, my boy himself 
Will find you out and take you down. 

Then may he feel the joy once more 
That thrilled me, filled me, years ago, 

When rev'rently I brooded o'er 
The glories of Boccaccio! 

67 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

He quite agreed with the most of 
mankind that Boswell's " Life of John- 
son" and Lockhart's "Life of Scott" 
were the great models of biographical 
writing, and he was not sure that Mrs. 
Gordon's memoir of her father, John 
Wilson, was not a worthy companion 
work. He was the constant recipient 
of books from friends and mere ac- 
quaintances ; and as far as these related 
to the biographical or the curious, he 
was industrious in their perusal, especi- 
ally the latter. 

The following excerpt from a letter 
dated "Chicago, Nov. 21, 1891," will 
give a clear notion of the catholicity of 
his taste, as well as the variety of his 
reading : 

The amount of reading I am doing appals me. I 
fear its variety demoralizes me. With biographies 
of Landor, Peter Parley, Coleridge, Wordsworth, 

68 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Leslie (the painter), Burns, Congreve, and Lamb, 
I am mixing up Baker's "Wild Beasts and their 
Ways," divers works on dyspepsia and nervous 
diseases, Miller's " Songs of the Sierras," Jeaffre- 
son's " Doctors," and a multitude of other books 
treating of all subjects from fairy mythology down 
to scatologic rites. I am wondering whether from 
this curious mass I shall expiscate anything of use 
to me in my work. My Muse has had a month's 
rest. I am beginning to think of giving the old girl 
another whirl. I am inclined to try my hand at a 
series of Russian lyrics, having become much in- 
terested in Ralston's " Folk-Songs." 



But it must not be forgotten that be- 
sides being an author, Field was a news- 
paper man, a very alert one, and that 
the daily demand upon him for copy 
was onerous and important. He had 
therefore to be constantly on the watch 
for subjects, — " on the prowl for plun- 
der," as he expressed it, — and this ac- 
counts for the eccentric character of the 
books which formed his library. De- 
69 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

spite declarations to the contrary by 
those who should have known better, 
his "fool books" had great bearing 
upon his work; and while many of 
these volumes have little or no intrinsic 
value to others, they furnished many 
a sapient and humorous suggestion to 
Eugene Field. 

It is true that in the housing and ar- 
rangement of his books he would place 
some poor production in comic juxta- 
position with a writer of great renown, 
as, for instance, " The Philosophy of 
Drunkenness " shoulder to shoulder 
with " Paradise Lost " ; but such an ar- 
rangement was unusual, and intended 
only to catch the eye and provoke the 
laughter of friend or acquaintance. The 
intimation, therefore, that his library 
contained few, if any, worthy volumes 
is a libel. 

70 




Field Writing 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Field was a conscientious artist. He 
selected his material with great care 
and gave unusual thought to its ex- 
pression. The mere physical labor of 
writing out his matter, as he did, in a 
minute and beautiful hand consumed 
much time. 

The fact, as he once told his guardian, 
from whom he was beguiling a loan, 
that he had spent the seventy-five dol- 
lars, given him the day before, for post- 
age-stamps, and the fact that at another 
time he had exchanged rent money for 
an ill-used dog or for a box of mounted 
butterflies, might give the impression 
that he was without a sense of the 
proper value of money. Indeed, many 
of his actions would seem to justify this 
view. But Field was too strong men- 
tally not to know his limitations and 
not to be warned by them. With a 
71 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

commendable knowledge of his weak- 
ness he refused to become interested in 
painting and sculpture and again and 
again did he refrain even from looking 
at certain coveted books, the price of 
which was beyond him, lest he be 
tempted to his undoing. 

Here, written in the early part of an 
acquaintance with him, is an extract 
from a letter of advice on book-collect- 
ing, in which Field also gives an in- 
geniously humorous summing up of his 
characteristics in this direction : 

I hope that you will keep right along collecting, 
but do not buy too many French, German, Latin, 
and Italian books ; that is not particularly profit- 
able. You ought to be able to get together a splendid 
lot of American first editions, and if I were you I 
would certainly do that. In time Americana will 
be immensely valuable. Keep on piling up auto- 
graph letters, and don't forget to keep the letters 
you get from contemporaneous people ; these may 
in time become of great interest and value. The 

72 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

fad of extra-illustrating has never possessed me, 
and I am hoping that it will not, for the reason 
that I could never make it profitable, since I never 
dispose of what I secure. I have absolutely no 
sense of barter — no, I am simply a royal and un- 
mitigated sucker. 

You know that when Diogenes returned from his 
cruise about Athens, under the auspices of a lan- 
tern, his friend Socrates asked him what his racket 
had been. '* I have been hunting for an honest 
man," replied he of the tub. " Indeed ! " queried 
Soc. ; " and did you find any ? " " No, that I did 

not," quoth Diog. ; "but I ran across a heap of 

fools." " So?" saith Soc, " and now, by Pallas ! 
tell me the names of them." " That were a tedious 
job," answered Diogenes ; " but I don't mind tell- 
ing you that the chiefest and veriest fool of 

'em all was a gangling, cadaverous, lantern-jawed, 
lop-eared, flat-footed Missourian named Field!" 
"By the dog, you speak truly!" cried Soc. 
"When it comes to the quintessence of dam- 
phoolery, Eugene does indeed take the cake ! " 

Nothing seemed too insignificant, 
certainly nothing too curious, for the 
man to collect. If he became inter- 
ested in a subject, physical or mental, 

73 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

he wanted to know all about it, to 
pursue it to the farthest possible extent. 
Among the unusual things in his 
collection of curios were bottles of all 
sizes, and in all shapes of men and 
beasts, unlike anything "that is in 
heaven above, or that is in the earth 
beneath, or that is in the water under 
the earth " ; a few of these vials con- 
tained colored liquids, the better to dis- 
play their grotesque outlines. He had 
a collection of envelopes such as were 
used during the War of the Rebellion, 
all handsomely mounted and bound in 
book form ; copies, in sheets, of music 
which once stirred the popular heart, 
as: "Away Down South in Dixie," 
"Annie Laurie," "When Johnnie 
Comes Marching Home Again," " Bat- 
tle Cry of Freedom," " Maid of Athens," 
"Rally Round the Flag, Boys," "Rock 

74 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Me to Sleep, Mother," "Sweet Ellen 
Bain," "Marching Through Georgia"; 
other ditties, procured because of the 
affectedly sentimental character of their 
titles, such as : " Be Good to your Mo- 
ther, John," " Father 's a Drunkard and 
Mother is Dead"; still others, which 
he sought because their titles were ex- 
traordinary, were : " Never Kick your 
Mother When She's Down," "Papa's 
Teeth are Plugged with Zinc," "Baby's 
Food is Filled with Tacks," and " Kiss 
the Hand that Raised the Lump." 
Especially were these songs attractive 
to him if the title-pages contained 
crude designs weirdly illustrative of 
the text, and he thought the uncon- 
scious humor of these clap-trap bits 
of sentiment much finer than any pre- 
meditated effort at fun. 

He had a collection of bells, the ring- 

75 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

ing of which caused their handles, made 
in the shape of old men and women, 
sprites and freaks, to perform all sorts 
of laughable tricks, such as sticking out 
the tongue, shaking the head, and what 
not. He was very fond of mechanical 
toys. They were a great attraction to 
children, whom he took especial pains 
to entertain, and though he revelled in 
the delight of the children, their enjoy- 
ment of these toys never exceeded his. 
An extract from a letter written at 
Hanover in 1889 well illustrates his 
interest in oddities, and the hold which 
the love of collecting, particularly things 
of an unusual kind, had upon him : 

Though I have been about but little, I have made 
several purchases. In Amsterdam I picked up an 
old English bull's-eye watch of the date of 1617. 
This pleases me immensely. I have a rosary and 
crucifix specially blessed by the Pope, several 
quaint bits of china, a small assortment of walking- 

76 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

sticks, several autograph letters, and a few books. 
Among the last-named are : Two novels bearing 
the book-plates of Rev. Sydney Smith ; a curious 
little work on duelling (1823, Dublin); Binns on 
Sleep ; "The Hair and Beard " (curious !) ; " Final 
Reliques of Father Prout" ; one of Froude's early 
pamphlets, " The Rose," etc., etc. I am buying 
mostly of the curious in literature. I have letters 
to Charles Dickens, Jr., and through him I hope to 
pick up some mementos of his father. My chef 
d'oeuvre, however, will be to secure one of the fa- 
mous axes with which Mr. Gladstone hews down 
trees in the Forest of Hawarden. 



Field got his axe, and with it a postal 
card in attestation of its genuineness 
from Gladstone. This axe, and the 
editorial scissors presented to him by- 
Charles A. Dana, were the most valued 
articles in his collection. 

It was because of his enjoyment of 

the odd and unusual, and because of 

the fact that they could be of service 

in furnishing material for his daily 

11 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

work, that he could write thus appre- 
ciatively of them : 

Of antique swords and spears I saw a vast and daz- 
zling heap, 

That Curio Fenton offered me at prices passing 
cheap ; 

And, oh, the quaint old bureaus, and the warming- 
pans of brass. 

And the lovely hideous freaks I found in pewter and 
in glass ! 

And, oh, the sideboards, candlesticks, the cracked 
old china plates. 

The clocks and spoons from Amsterdam that ante- 
date all dates ! 

Of such superb monstrosities I found an endless 
mine 

When I was broke in London in the fall of '89. 

For a number of years the craze for 
books and relics relating to Napoleon 
did not interest him, and he gave away 
such as came to him ; but he underwent 
a change in this matter, and his library 
possessed a goodly number of standard 
books on the subject. 
78 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

He was a liberal man in all respects, 
but a very prodigal in the presentation 
of his own delicately illuminated manu- 
scripts to his friends and acquaintances, 
even to strangers ; and it has happened, 
much to his disgust, that one of these 
gifts, daintily wrought and generously 
bestowed, turned up " for sale " in some 
bookshop. 

It fretted him somewhat, but it fur- 
nished him with the subject of a little 
poem wherein the transaction is hu- 
morously set forth: 



One day I got a missive, 

Writ in a dainty hand, 
Which made my manly bosom 

With vanity expand. 
T was from a " young admirer," 

Who asked would I mind 
Sending her " favorite poem " 

In autograph and signed. 

79 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

But a catalogue from Benjamin's 
^ Disproves what things meseemed— 

Dispels with savage certainty 

The flattering dreams I dreamed. 
For this poor " favorite poem," 

Done and signed in autograph, 
Is listed in " cheap items 

At a dollar and a half." 

There was nothing especially pre- 
cocious about Field's genius. True, he 
versified rather early as a boy, but it is 
somewhat remarkable that he was nearly 
forty years of age before he wrote verse 
steadily. At all events, he could con- 
sole himself with the pleasing reflection 
that some of the greater writers, notably 
Scott and George Eliot, had reached 
the same age before they produced the 
works which gave them fame. 

Field wrote and published his first 
bit of verse in 1879. It was called 
" Christmas Treasures." 
80 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

I count my treasures o'er with care- 
The little toy my darling knew ; 
A little sock of faded hue, 

A little lock of golden hair. 



It reminds one of " Little Boy Blue," 
which is popularly thought to have 
been suggested by the loss of one of 
Field's children. 

About ten years later, 1889, Field 
began to write verse very frequently. 
In 1880 he wrote and published in 
the "Kansas City Times," "A Little 
Peach," which, "warmed by the sun 
and wet by the dew," grew so fatally 
for " Johnny Jones and his sister Sue." 
The poem travelled all over the world, 
and was found anonymously printed in 
the corner of an obscure country paper, 
by Hubbard T. Smith of Washington. 
It was set by him to an ear-tickling 
81 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

melody. Because of the exigency of 
the music Mr. Smith added the re- 
frain : 

Hard trials for them two — 
Johnny Jones and his sister Sue. 

Boo, hoo ! Boo, hoo ! 
Listen to my tale of woe. 

In 1888 I was in London, and visit- 
ing an old book-store in High Hol- 
born, I chanced upon a copy of the 
song, brought it back to America, and 
had Mr. John Braham of Boston com- 
pose a dance for it. The words were 
credited to an English versifier; neither 
Mr. Smith nor I knew at the time that 
Field was the author of them. It was 
sung first, publicly, as a duet in the 
opera of " Nadjy," at Boston, and in- 
stantly became popular. The song was 
afterward introduced into the opera 
"The Oolah." For years the poem 
82 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

went the rounds of the papers in their 
humorous departments. Field himself 
thought very little of it, and only to 
set at rest its disputed authorship, pub- 
lished it in his book, "Culture's Gar- 
land." A small fortune was netted from 
the sale of the music — thousands upon 
thousands of copies being sold. The 
poem had never been copyrighted by 
Mr. Field, and years before its success 
as a song, Mr. Smith had sold his rights 
to a music-dealer in Washington for 
ten dollars. 

Many of Field's poems were credited 
frequently to others, and in one instance, 
at least, he jocularly so arranged it. 
" The Wanderer " appeared in the Chi- 
cago " Morning News " as a poem writ- 
ten by Madame Modjeska. Madame, 
it is said, did not rise to a full appre- 
ciation of the subtleties of this species 

83 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

of American humor, and was very an- 
gry; but she was speedily reconciled, 
and until Field's death remained his 
steadfast friend and admirer. 

" Our Two Opinions " travelled and 
travels all over the country credited to 
James Whitcomb Riley, whose style it 
closely resembles. 

Roswell M. Field is authority for 
the interesting statement that "Mr. 
Dana of the New York Sun" was 
founded upon fact. " Cantell Whop- 
pers," the hero of the story, he who 
"worked with Dana," afterward took 
the Keeley cure, and is to-day one of 
the great temperance leaders in the 
West. 

Field was very fond of the writings 
of Dr. Conan Doyle, and there were 
interchanges of bookish courtesies be- 
tween the two authors. In a copy of 
84 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

"A Second Book of Verse," Field 
wrote : 

Accept, dear Conan Doyle, this " Second Book of 
Verse"; 

And, though it is but paltry stuff, thank God it is no 
worse ! 

It comes from one who in seclusion at Buena Park, 

Has read your "Sherlock Holmes," "The Refu- 
gees," and " Micah Clarke " ; 

Your "Captain of the Polar Star," and— but why 
enumerate ? 

In all your genius has produced I 'm fully up to date! 

I wish to God I knew you — could press you by the 
hand; 

I wish I could have met you in your own dear na- 
tive land ! 

Ah, had we met on t'other side, what happiness 
were mine — 

For I was broke in London in the fall of '89 ! 

Eugene Field. 
Buena Park, Oct. 12, 1894. 

Later Dr. Doyle and Field met, and 
an ardent friendship sprang up between 
them. 

85 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

The "Tribune Primer," Denver, 
1882, the first of Field's publications 
in book form, is an i8mo of forty-eight 
pages, with pink paper covers. 

It appears that a series, to be called 
"The Tribune Pamphlet Issue," was 
projected. An unfavorable estimate of 
Colonel R. G. Ingersoll by O. H. Roth- 
acker, the editor-in-chief of the Denver 
" Tribune," was issue No. 1 ; Field's 
contribution was No. 2 ; and with this 
covering of the field of tragedy and 
comedy the series ended. 

In the same year much of the con- 
tents of the " Tribune Primer " was 
reprinted by a Brooklyn publisher, who 
added pictures by " Hop " and auda- 
ciously copyrighted the whole thing. 
This publication was called " The 
Model Primer." It is a small square 
i6mo, with light salmon-colored paper 
86 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

covers. It is without pagination, and 
the front cover bears an illustration of 
a dunce laughing over an A-B-C book. 
Field is credited on the same page with 
the authorship. It is composed of 
twenty-five leaves, including both cov- 
ers. The' illustrations are capital. In 
a copy of the book owned by one of his 
friends, Field wrote : 

The " Model Primer " is composed of about half 
the little paragraphs to be found in the "Tribune 
Primer." Tredwell, the publisher, pirated the 
matter and produced it without consulting me, 
though subsequently he wrote me saying that he 
meant to share the profits with me. I suppose 
there were no profits, for I have not heard from 
Tredwell again. A copy of this edition of the 
"Primer" sold at the Libbie sale in Boston, in 
1893, for $7. The bidders must have been under 
the erroneous impression that it was one of the 
original "Tribune Primers." The little sketches 
appeared originally in the Denver " Tribune " in 
the fall of 1881 and winter of 1882. The whole 
number printed did not exceed fifty. I quit writing 

87 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

them because all the other newspapers in the 
country began imitating the project. 
Very cordially yours, 

Eugene Field. 
Buena Park, 111., Aug. 7, 1894. 

Nineteen dollars was recently paid 
for a copy of " The Model Primer," 
while the Denver " Tribune Primer " is 
so infrequently offered for sale as to 
command almost any price asked for it. 

Confident of the ascendancy of Field's 
star, and believing that sooner or later his 
publications, especially those privately 
printed and those of which only a few 
copies had been or might be issued, 
would be very scarce and difficult to ob- 
tain, I set off on a long, and what proved 
to be a fruitless, search for a copy of the 
Denver "Tribune Primer." I was ham- 
pered by no less a person than Field 
himself, who, from love of mischief, 
threw every possible obstacle in the 
88 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

way. This state of affairs continued for 
ten years. Field would send seductive 
advertisements of dealers from whom 
the book might be procured, having 
carefully scissored away the name of 
the city and street. He ostentatiously, 
provokingly, and continuously flaunted 
his own copy, and otherwise behaved so 
exasperatingly that at length it became 
necessary to threaten him with condign 
punishment unless he surrendered the 
particular information which he was at 
the moment withholding. Field re- 
plied as follows : 

Your note of warning came too late. Miller is 
already on the trail of the possessor of the 
" Primer." Way did n't know I meant to keep the 
thing secret in order to have fun with you, and he 
bla-a-ted the whole business to Miller, who intends 
to hunt up the " Primer" owner the next time he 
goes West. E. F. 

Jan'y 11, 1895. 

89 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

The joy of receiving from a very dear 
friend at Christmas, 1895, a copy of this 
rare little book was tempered by the 
thought that Field could not know of 
the acquisition. He had been dead 
but a few weeks. 

Field's next publication was "Cul- 
ture's Garland." It is a i2mo, paper 
covers, 325 pages. 

The publishers were Ticknor & Co., 
Boston, 1889. In addition to the ordi- 
nary publication, there was an issue of 
six uncut copies. The book was made 
up of extracts from the author's news- 
paper work. The poem "A Little 
Peach " appears here for the first time 
in any book. 

Field seemed to have been in almost 
constant doubt as to the merit of this 
work. More than once he said he re- 
90 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

gretted having permitted it to be pub- 
lished. One day he expressed the wish 
that he had all the copies that had been 
issued, so that he might destroy them. 
Shortly after this, my belief in his sin- 
cerity as to this wish was shaken by his 
sending to me a copy of the book con- 
taining the following inscription : 

There were only six uncut copies of "Culture's 

Garland" issued. This is one of them. It may 

be worth keeping. 

Eugene Field. 
Chicago, Feb. 24th, 1891. 

No. 1. 

The fact is, he blew hot and cold on 
the subject. The critics had not re- 
ceived the book kindly, and in a letter 
from London, in 1889, ^^ humorously 
observed that the Chicago champions 
of international copyright, before look- 
ing out for his interests abroad, should 
foster his local interests by buying up 
91 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

the copies of "Culture's Garland" which 
lumbered the shelves at McClurg's. 

In his own copy of the book is the 
following : 

1891. 

You read the book and call it stuff— 
Yes, I am free to say 't is tough. 
" A sorry failure," critics vote it, 
So I am sorry that I wrote it. 
It never yet has paid expenses. 
Therefore my sorrow more intense is. 

E. F. 

With the growth of his fame began 
a search by collectors for his earlier 
books, a fact which greatly elated Field. 
It also served to raise his estimate of 
this, his second book. Two communi- 
cations to a friend in Boston concerning 
it are worth recording : 

I '11 be glad to do anything for you that you may 
ask. I start for California about a week from now ; 
so if you are going to send your copy of " Culture's 

92 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Garland,'* you must hurry it along, or it will not 
get to me in time. How happened you to be 
prowling around for that work ? It was the error of 
my youth. You may be interested to know that the 
book was edited by Tom Ticknor. I simply sent on 
a lot of my stuff, and the folks at the other end 
picked out what he wanted, and ran it as he pleased. 
The alleged advertisements at the end of the vol- 
ume are its best feature, I think. I have not yet 
ventured out of doors. I went down-stairs to din- 
ner yesterday for the first time in six weeks. 
Cordially yours, 

Eugene Field. 
Buena Park, 111., Dec. 3d, 1893. 

No time was lost in forwarding the 
volume, in which Field wrote as follows : 

I am not ashamed of this little book, but, like the 
boy with the measles, I am sorry for it in spots. 
You are welcome to what is good in it, and I sub- 
scribe myself. Dear Sir, with every high regard. 
Your reformed, 
Obedient, 
Willing 

and abject servitor, 

Eugene Field. 
Chicago, Dec. 8, 1893. 

93 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

The " alleged advertisements " spoken 
of by Field are overlooked generally by 
the readers of " Culture's Garland." A 
reproduction of them is given herewith. 

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was not 
pleased at being called " Colonel " Al- 
drich throughout an article which Field 
had written for " The News," and which 
he afterward incorporated in " Culture's 
Garland." Field seemed hurt, and 
could scarcely believe that " a man of 
Mr. Aldrich's intelligence and humor 
should take exception to so patent a bit 
of ' damphoolery.' " 

Field's next publication, and, for the 
vastly increased reputation it brought 
him, the most important in his life, 
was: 1. "A Little Book of Western 
Verse." 2. " A Little Book of Profit- 
able Tales." 

94 



y^^ H. DEVINE, 

(Indorsed by Theodore Thomas,) 

lybolesate Dealer in 

Cream, Milk, etc. 

Chicago, 111. 



parties, Clubs, Societies, and Fes- 
tivals furnished \vith suppers 
or lunches at living rates. Has 
provided Refreshments for the 
Thomas Concerts for three sea- 
sons. 

DEVINE'S PINK LEMON AD E. 

A Noble Beverage, which cheers, but 

does not intoxicate. Whets the 

appetite for classic music, and 

will remove grease-spots 

from the finest 

fabric. 



VETERINARY 

HOSPITAL. 



946 HEBERN AVE., CHICAGO. 



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WILL COMPOSE 



LETTERS, ESSAYS, SPEECHES, 
EPIC POEMS. ETC.. 



CHEAP FOR CASH. 



N. B. — A fine line of LETTERS 
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stock. 

Send for Catalogue. 



f O EX CHAN GE. 

T HAVE on hand a complete set of 

British Half -calf Poets (120 

vols.), in prime condition, which I will 

exchange for a St. Bernard Pup. 

Must be warranted to have had the 

distemper also, i folio Shakespeare. 

Andrew J. Whistlewhite, 

Chicago, III. 



^RT S CHOOL . 

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principal. 

Fall Term begins Sept. 19, 1887. 

Wax Flowers a Specialty ; 

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We produce work that defies the 
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Leave orders at Livermann's cigar-store. 



The Eugene Field I Knew 



D 



Published together, privately, for 
subscribers. Chicago, 1889. ^^'^^ ^^^^^ 
white linen covers. 

The first book has 196 pages, and 
contains a list of subscribers. The sec- 
ond book has 286 pages. Both vol- 
umes are on hand-made paper, and 
have rubricated ritles. Two hundred 
and fifb^ numbered copies of each were 
made and signed "T." (Slason Thomp- 
son, a Chicago publisher). Field was 
in Europe when these two volumes 
came fi-om the press. 

" A Little Book of Western Verse " 
has attained a greater popularity than 
any other of Field's works. 

"A Little Book of Profitable Tales" 
probably does not appeal so much to 
children as to those who love children, 
and something of a mistake is made in 
supposing it to be a child's book. Chil- 
95 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

dren, as a rule, become discouraged 
when in the course of a single volume 
of tales, however beautifully written, so 
many of their little heroes and heroines 
die. The skill of construction, the 
delicacy of expression, which appeal 
to the maturer mind, are lost upon 
the average boy or girl, who grasps 
only the broader features of the story. 
In 1890 Charles Scribner's Sons, New 
York, issued a popular edition (i6mo, 
blue cloth, gilt tops) of the foregoing 
two volumes, and Eugene Field's repu- 
tation became national. The Scribner 
issue of " A Little Book of Western 
Verse" has gone through twenty edi- 
tions (1898), making a total sale of 
nearly 40,000 copies. The same issue 
of "A Little Book of Profitable Tales" 
has reached, up to date, a total sale 
of 25,000 copies. 

96 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

This publication was followed by : 

" Echoes from the Sabine Farm, 
Being certain Horatian 
Lyrics now for the first 
Time Discreetly and 
Delectably Done Into 
English by 
Eugene and 
Roswell M. 
Field. 
With sundry little picturings 
by Edmund H. Garrett, and 
published in this pleasant wise 
by Francis Wilson, The Or- 
chard, New Rochelle, 1891." 

One hundred copies were made, thirty 
on Japan, seventy on hand-made paper. 
The title-page was etched, the initials 
were rubricated throughout, and there 
was a vignette head-piece over each 

97 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

poem. For each of the copies on 
Japan paper, Eugene and Roswell Field 
wrote autograph poems. The copies 
were numbered and signed. None was 
for sale. 

This is the inscription Field wrote 
in copy No. i of the Japan-paper issue : 

You should not have sent me this No. 1. I 
enclose it to you because you alone are entitled to 
it. You have been collecting first copies of my 
books, and why should you deprive yourself of this 
first copy of the little poems you have clothed so 
very beautifully? We are so very grateful to you — 
my brother and I are — for this superb recognition 
of our work ; you have done what you have done so 
gracefully that our sense of obligation is all the 
keener. I hope you will live forever, and I should 
like to live one day longer to write your epitaph. 
It is so hard to tell one to his face how much we 
love him, but as words are the only things that live 
forever, perhaps these lines which I now utter from 
a full heart will testify, long after old edax rerum 
has made dust of me, to my gratitude and affection 

^°^yo"- Eugene Field. 

Chicago, January 23d, 1893. 

98 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

As a gift to his friends Field printed : 
"The Symbol and the Saint." A 
Christmas Tale by Eugene Field, Il- 
lustrated by J. L. Sclauders, 1886. First 
appeared (in Chicago " Daily News "), 
1886. Printed as a brochure, 1892. 

Square i8mo, unstitched paper cov- 
ers (held together with pink ribbons in 
the perforations). This book is a fac- 
simile reproduction of the original 
manuscript with illustrations breaking 
through the text. Only a few copies 
were made. 

"With Trumpet and Drum" was 
published in 1892, by Charles Scribner's 
Sons, New York. 

There were three issues : 

1. Twelve presentation copies printed 
for the author upon Imperial Japanese 
paper. 

LofC. 99 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

2. Two hundred and fifty copies on 
hand-made paper. For these Mr. E. H. 
Garrett drew, and Mr. W. H. W. 
Bicknell etched, the title-page. 

3. A smaller unnumbered edition, 
i2mo, blue cloth, gilt top. The copy- 
right is in the name of Field's daughter, 
Mary French Field. 

In the No. 1 (of the issues on hand- 
made paper) after copying a verse with 
evident difficulty, from the initial poem, 
he appended the following character- 
istic rhymes: 



Dear Wilson, I write to inquire if you think 
I 'm going to put up with this damnable ink, 
And these horrid pens which these landlords 

provide ? 
To Tophet with them and their torments, I say ! 
The fellows are chattering around me — beside 
I 'm trembly and shaky from Camden, N. J. 
i '11 finish the task you require of me when 
I come to eat turkey with you once again ! 
100 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

" The Second Book of Verse " was 
published privately by Melville E. 
Stone, Chicago, 1892. 

1. Twelve copies on Japan paper for 
the author. 

2. Three hundred copies, small 8vo, 
on hand-made paper. 

The book is copyrighted in the name 
of Field's wife, Julia Sutherland Field, 
and the prefatory poem to her is one of 
the daintiest of Field's efforts : 



A little bit of a woman came 

Athwart my path one day ; 
So tiny was she that she seemed to be 
A pixy strayed from the misty sea, 

Or a wandering greenwood fay. 

" Oho, you little elf! " I cried, 

"And what are you doing here? 
So tiny as you will never do 
For the brutal rush and hullaballoo 
Of this practical world, I fear." 

loi 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

"Voice have I, good sir," said she,— 

" T is soft as an angel's sigh, 
But to fancy a word of yours were heard 
In all the din of this world 's absurd," 

Smiling, I made reply. 

" Hands have I, good sir," she quoth,— 

" Marry, and that have you? 
But amid the strife and tumult rife, 
In all the struggle and battle for life, 

What can those wee hands do?" 

" Eyes have I, good sir," she said,— 

" Sooth, you have," quoth I ; 
"And tears shall flow therefrom, I trow, 
And they, betimes, shall dim with woe 

As the hard, hard years go by ! " 

That little bit of a woman cast 

Her two eyes full on me. 
And they smote me sore to my inmost core, 
And they held me slaved forevermore 

Yet would I not be free. 

That little bit of a woman's hands 

Reached up into my breast. 
And rent apart my scoffing heart 
And they buffet it still with such sweet art 

As cannot be expressed. 

I02 




S^J ^. ^^..^C- 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

That little bit of a woman's voice 

Hath grown most wondrous dear ; 
Above the blare of all elsewhere 
(An inspiration that mocks at care) 
It riseth full and clear. 

Dear one, I bless the subtle power 

That makes me wholly thine ; 
And I 'm proud to say that I bless the day 
When a little woman wrought her way 

Into this life of mine ! 

An ordinary edition of the " Second 
Book of Verse " was published by 
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 
1893. 

Next followed "Echoes from the 
Sabine Farm," 500 numbered copies, 
post 8vo, 149 pages, gilt top, cloth, 
McClurg, Chicago, 1893. 

The publisher having objected to the 
personal character of " Maecenas in Chi- 
cago," as printed in " The Orchard " 
103 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

(1891) edition (page 50 et seq^^ two 
new paraphrases were substituted — 
"To His Book" and "Fame vs. Riches," 
the former by Roswell M. Field, and 
the latter by Eugene Field. 

For this edition Field wrote "Ad 
Lectorem," a five-page explanation of 
how these Horatian paraphrases and 
adaptations — "more in a spirit of play- 
fulness than otherwise " — came to be 
written. 

The next publication was " The Holy 
Cross and Other Tales," Stone and Kim- 
ball, i6mo, Cambridge, 1893. There 
were issued of this — 

1. Twenty copies on Japan paper, 
five of which were for sale. Signed, 
" Stone & Kimball." 

2. Large white paper edition of one 
hundred and ten copies, one hundred 

104 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

of which were for sale. Numbered, 
and signed, " Stone & Kimball." The 
title-page and the page bearing the 
printer's imprint are upon Japan paper. 

3. Ordinary edition, i6mo, cloth, 
gilt top. The book is copyrighted in 
Field's name. 

The dedicatory poem is to his bro- 
ther Roswell: 

The homestead and the pickerel pond, 
The maple-trees and the pasture lot, 

The Pelham hills away beyond, 
Brother of mine, have you forgot? 

"Dibdin's Ghost" first appeared in 
the " Book-Lover's Almanac," Duprat 
& Co, New York, 1893. Twenty-five 
separate and special copies of the poem 
were struck off for the author, and num- 
bered and signed by him ; it was printed 
by De Vinne & Co. ; i6mo, paper. 
105 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

The next publication with which 
Field was identified was " First Editions 
of American Authors, A Manual for 
Book-Lovers; Compiled by Herbert 
Stuart Stone, with an Introduction by- 
Eugene Field." 

1. Fifty copies on large paper. 

2. Ordinary edition, i6mo, cloth ; 
500 copies made. Cambridge, 1893. 

After the year 1893 Charles Scrib- 
ner's Sons became Mr. Field's publishers. 

Two leaves or four unnumbered pages 
of "Facts, Confessions, and Observa- 
tions " were privately printed by Field 
in 1894. The same was published, with 
an introduction by Francis Wilson, un- 
der the title of "Eugene Field, — An 
Auto-Analysis," 8vo, Chicago, 1896. 

Of this item, as printed by Field, 
there were two issues : 
106 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

1. Eight copies on Japan paper, num- 
bered and signed by the author. 

2. Ordinary issue on white paper. 
The No. 1, in possession of the wri- 
ter, is dated April 5, 1894. 

There followed " Love Songs of 
Childhood," Charles Scribner's Sons, 
New York, 1894. Of this were is- 
sued : 

1. Fifteen copies on Japan, printed 
for the author, numbered i-xv. Print- 
ed on one side of the page, 8vo, loose 
boards. 

2. One hundred and six copies on 
Whatman paper, numbered 1-106. 
Printed on one side of the page, 8vo, 
vellum. 

3. Ordinary edition, the type for 
which was completely reset, i6mo, blue 
cloth, gilt top. 

107 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

The next was " Tribute to the Mem- 
ory of Ruth C. Gray," privately printed, 
St. Louis, 1894. Square 8vo. It is 
gilt top, cloth, and has a portrait of Mrs. 
Gray. The first tribute is by Field, 
and covers thirty-one pages. The other 
nine pages are devoted to an "Extract 
from the Paper of Miss Martha N. 
Mathews," and a "Tribute by Mrs. 
Diana Pike." 

The concluding lines of Field's trib- 
ute are: 

... As the last night wore away, . . . they saw 
upon her glorified face no shadow of the Valley, but 
the shining light of the Eternal City. And through 
the windows streamed the summer sunshine; and 
it was morning. 

Mrs. Gray was the wife of Melvin 
L. Gray, who on the death of Field's 
father became executor of the Field es- 
tate, and the Field boys, just coming 
of age, found Mrs. Gray's "prudent 

108 

I 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

counsel and disinterested friendship" 
of great value. 

This publication is not well known 
to collectors. 

On one of the "end papers" of a 
copy of the book Field has written : 

Here 's a bit of Fieldana that will sometime be 

rare. At any rate, you will value it, because it tells 

of a lady who was dear to me. 

Eugene Field. 
Chicago, July 20, 1894. 

It was Mr. Gray to whom Field 
dedicated "Echoes from the Sabine 
Farm": 

Come, dear old friend, and with us twain 
To calm Digentian groves repair. 

Next in order was "Echoes from 
the Sabine Farm," Charles Scribner's 
Sons, 1895, New York, of which 1500 
copies were made. 

This edition has the two odes : " To 
109 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

His Book," and "Fame vs. Riches," 
as in the McClurg issue of 1893, ^^^ 
also the ode "To Maecenas in Chi- 
cago," which appeared in "The Or- 
chard" edition. 

The "Echoes" was followed by "The 
Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac," Charles 
Scfibner's Sons, New York. 

1. One hundred and fifty numbered 
copies on large paper. 8vo, half white 
vellum. 

2. Ordinary edition. i2mo, blue 
cloth, gilt top. 1896. This was suc- 
ceeded by " The House," an episode 
in the lives of Reuben Baker and of 
his wife Alice. Charles Scribner's 
Sons, New York. 

1. One hundred and fifty numbered 
copies on large paper, 8vo, half white 
vellum. 

no 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

2. Ordinary edition, i2mo, blue cloth, 
gilt top, 1896. 

Then came " Songs and Other Verse," 
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 
1896. 8vo, half white vellum. 

1. One hundred and fifty copies on 
large paper. 

2. Ordinary edition, i2mo, blue cloth, 
gilt top. 

Then followed in the order named: 
"Second Book of Tales," Charles 
Scribner's Sons, New York, 1896. 

1. One hundred and fifty copies on 
large paper, 8vo, half white vellum. 

2. Ordinary edition, i2mo, blue cloth, 
gilt top. 

" The Holy Cross, and Other Tales," 
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1896, 
III 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

containing five new tales ; twenty large- 
paper copies issued; i2mo, blue cloth, 
gilt top. 

" Eugene Field, An Auto-Analysis." 
Introduction by Francis Wilson; Chi- 
cago, Frank M. Morris, 1896. 

1. One hundred and fifty copies on 
Japanese paper. 

2. Three hundred and fifty on deckle- 
edge paper; square i8mo, boards. 

Eugene Field to Francis Wilson. 
" Some Attentions." Privately printed 
by Francis Wilson, "The Orchard," 
New Rochelle, N. Y., 1896. 

One hundred copies were made, none 
of which was for sale; illustrated, i6mo, 
boards, gilt border. 

" The Writings in Prose and Verse 
6f Eugene Field." Charles Scribner's 
112 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Sons, New York, 1896. Sabine Edi- 
tion, 10 volumes. 

Of this publication of the complete 
works there were two issues : 

1. One hundred numbered copies on 
Japan paper. Duodecimo. Bound in 
quarter white vellum. The individual 
or distinctive title to each volume and 
the initial letter to the text of each vol- 
ume are rubricated. 

2. The ordinary unnumbered issue, 
of which the first edition, printed from 
the same types as the limited edition, 
consisted of 5000 copies, on white pa- 
per. Duodecimo. Bound in green cloth 
with gold lettering on back and gold 
fillet on side, enclosing a design from 
Field's bookplate; — a sheaf of wheat 
above a bar, in gold. The Japan- 
paper copies, $40; Green cloth edi- 
tion, $15. 

113 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

" Field Flowers," Chicago, 1896. 8vo. 
green cloth covers. 

This volume is composed of a fac- 
simile reproduction of the original 
manuscript of " Little Boy Blue " and 
of sixteen of Field's poems, to each of 
which artist friends — A. B. Frost, 
George Wharton Edwards, Frederic 
Remington, F. Hopkinson Smith, A. 
B. Wenzell, Eric Pape, E. W. Kem- 
ble, and others — have contributed one, 
and sometimes two, illustrations. 

Stanford White drew the design for 
the cover and title-page. The book 
was issued under the auspices of the 
Field Monument Fund Committee. 
The volume is not as satisfactory a 
specimen of book-making as it should 
have been, considering the artistic ma- 
terial so generously and gratuitously 
contributed. 

"4 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

"Songs of Childhood." Verses by- 
Eugene Field. Music by Reginald de 
Koven and others. Charles Scribner's 
Sons, New York, 1897, small 4to, 
boards. The introduction, or "pre- 
lude," is by Mr. De Koven. 

"Florence Bardsley's Story: The Life 
and Death of a Remarkable Woman," 
by Eugene Field. Chicago, W. Irving 
Way, 1897. 

Twenty-five copies on Japan paper 
and one hundred and fifty copies on 
Dutch hand-made paper were printed. 
This is the only publication in book 
form of another of Field's literary jokes. 
It is Eugene Field's delightful review 
of an alleged essay by Whitelaw Reid 
on a mythical book entitled " Un 
Aper9u de la Vie de Mme. la Comtesse 
de la Tour." The review appeared first 
115 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

In the "Sharps and Flats" column of 
the Chicago " Daily News." 

"Some letters of Edgar Allan Poe 
to E. H. N. Patterson of Oquawka, Illi- 
nois, with comments by Eugene Field." 
There were issued one hundred and 
eighty-six copies on American hand- 
made paper, and three copies on Jap- 
anese vellum. This is the only pub- 
lication in book form of Field's article, 
" Poe, Patterson, and Oquawka," which 
originally appeared in "America," a 
literary journal published in Chicago 
and edited by Slason Thompson. It 
includes the correspondence of Poe 
and Patterson relative to the establish- 
ing of a literary magazine, " The Stylus," 
in Oquawka. The six manuscripts of 
Poe are in fac-simile. 



ii6 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

One of the most amusing of Field's 
conceits was the method he employed 
to beguile Mr. Shackelford, the cashier 
of " The News," to advance a portion 
of his weekly salary. Field, referring 
later to the letters to Mr. Shackelford,^ 
said that he put upon them seventy-five 
dollars' worth of work to get an ad- 
vance of five dollars. 

It is interesting to note the frankness 
with which, in the " Auto- Analysis," 
the creator of " Little Boy Blue " de- 
fends his attitude toward children. 

It is a great mistake to suppose that 
he loved all children. Such was not 
the case. As he says, he tried to ana- 
lyze his feelings with respect to them, 
and found that he loved them in so far 
as he could make pets of them. He 

1 See end of volume. 



117 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

thought this all out carefully, and wrote 
it down with much additional and ex- 
tremely interesting matter about him- 
self in that curious pamphlet already 
mentioned, which he published and sent 
broadcast to people who were constantly 
importuning him for personal informa- 
tion. This is the document which 
appeared subsequently with additional 
matter, under the title of the "Auto- 
Analysis." 

The following will illustrate Field's 
patience as well as his inventiveness in 
efforts to amuse his children. His 
youngest son, " Pody," came to him 
every morning about eight o'clock for 
a romp. Almost the first thing " Pody " 
did was to seize a toy gun and " shoot 
the cat." That he might always be 
successful in his aim, Field had the toy 
cat set up on a shelf in the room, and 
ii8 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

tied a string to the leg of the animal, so 
that when the baby cried "Bang!" Field 
pulled the string, down tumbled the 
cat, and great was the joy of "Pody." 
This would be kept up until the child 
craved some new diversion, which, con- 
sidering the unerring aim of " Pody " 
and the delighted surprise of "papa," 
was not soon. 

Field was a great lover of pets of all 
kinds, to which, with his fertile imagina- 
tion, he gave names of peculiar signifi- 
cance. 

His brother, Roswell Field, says that 
the first lines of verse Eugene ever wrote 
were inspired by one of these pets, the 
family dog, whose conventional name 
of "Fido" was changed by Field to 
"Dooley," because it was thought the 
dog's face possessed certain Hibernian 
traits. 

119 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

" Oh, had I the Wings of a Dove " 
was the title of a then very popular 
song, and the boy Eugene parodied it, 
making "Dooley" the speaker: 

Oh, had I the wings of a dove, I would fly, 

Away from this world of fleas ; 
I M fly all around Miss Emerson's yard, 

And light on Miss Emerson's trees. 

The Miss Emerson mentioned was 
the music teacher at Amherst of the 
Field boys, Eugene and Roswell. 

Field revelled in this personification 
of ptts, and also in the application of 
peculiar names to them. Each chicken 
in the New England home was care- 
fully instructed to respond to a peculiar 
call, and "Finnikin," " Minnikin," 
"Dump," "Poog," and "Boog" were 
some of the names employed. Later, 
when Field's children took the place of 
his boyish pets, he gratified his whim 
for strange names by ignoring those 
1 20 




The Field Children — '* Sister Girl" and -Pody" 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

given at the baptismal font, and by sub- 
stituting nicknames of his own riotous 
fancy. To the writer, as to all the 
friends of the family, the nicknames 
Field used are the only real ones, and 
it is difficult for them to realize that 
the name of Field's eldest daughter, 
"Trotty," is Mary French; that the 
three sons, " Pinney," " Daisy," and 
" Pody," are respectively Eugene, Fred- 
erick, and Roswell Francis ; and that his 
youngest child and second daughter, 
" Sister Girl," is Ruth E. Field. 

Field's sympathy was broad and 
deep, and was always to be enlisted in 
a deserving and sometimes, unknow- 
ingly, in an undeserving cause. Few 
people came to him for aid and went 
away empty-handed. His last pub- 
lic appearance, just three weeks be- 
fore his death, was in the cause of 
charity. 

121 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

The bill of announcement is given 
herewith in fac-simile. His brother 
writes : 

Enclosed you will find a program, or rather the 
bill of Eugene's last appearance before the general 
public. Glencoe is a little town on the North- 
western Railway, about seven miles above Evans- 
ton. Mel. Stone lived there, and this was a sort of 
benefit performance for a woman. We were all in 
great spirits, and had no end of fun. I rarely saw 
Eugene more "unlimbered,'' so to speak. 

It is too early to determine what 
place, if any, the evolution of our liter- 
ature will assign to Eugene Field. It 
remains to be seen whether or not the 
books of quotations, those not always 
infallible tests of familiarity or popular- 
ity, while giving space to Paul Moon 
James, Ellen Sturgis Hooper, Eliza 
Cook, N. P. Willis, and Jefferson Da- 
vis, and denying it to John G. Saxe, 

122 




^isriD 



Mr. OPIE p. read 

will recite selections from their own writings 

Complimentary Benefit Entertainment, 

TO BE TENDERED 

MRS. EVA JAMES CLEMENTI, 

GLENCOE CONGREMTIOIML CHURCH, 

Saturday Evening, October \2, 1895, 

AT 8 O^CLOCK. 

Mr. Melville E. Stone will preside. 

MRS. L W. hILTMAN. wt)o bas in her specialty a reputation 

equal to ttjat of t^e celebrated Mrs. Show 

will whistle a nun^ber of airs. 

MR. ROSWELL FIELD 

Will play several selections upon the piano. 

Mrs. Clemeinti will sing one number. 
ADMISSION 50 CENTS. 

NO RESERVED SEATS. 

TICKETS FOR SALE BY .-_^^ 

BEN JORDAN Clencoe; GEO. B. CUMMINCS. Highland Park 
GARRISON BROS.. Winnetka. and at the door. 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

Stephen A. Douglas, Henry Ward 
Beecher, William Edgar (" Bill ") Nye, 
James Whitcomb. Riley, and W. H. 
Gilbert, will find a quotable line in the 
works of Eugene Field. 

As far as can be judged from a wholly 
popular point of view, " A Little Book 
of Western Verse " will dwell longest in 
the hearts and minds of the multitude. 

It is more nearly representative of 
Field's varied powers than any other 
single volume. It contains examples 
of his dialect poems, paraphrases, trans- 
lations, and adaptations from Horace, 
Chaucer, Spenser, Hugo, Beranger, 
Heine, occasional verse, and " Little 
Boy Blue," a poem which, more than 
anything else he ever wrote, brought 
him into popular favor. It also con- 
tains many of his tenderest lullabies, 
which have endeared him to the moth- 
123 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

ers and to the children of the land. In 
this book also are some of the finest and 
most humorous of Field's poems on 
books and book-lovers, and from these 
considerations this volume is not un- 
likely to outlive all the others. 

Field himself was not of this opinion. 
He thought "Echoes from the Sabine 
Farm" set down for that distinction. 
These "Horatian Odes" were very near 
and very dear to Field, as was, in fact, 
everything in connection with the fa- 
mous Latin lyrist, an affection inherited 
from his father. His own home was 
called the Sabine Farm, and the final 
collection and issue of his works was 
happily termed the "Sabine Edition." 
The "Echoes" were a labor of love, 
with no mercenary incentive either in 
the creation or in the putting forth. 

But the "Echoes" are not for the 
124 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

multitude. They were written to be 
read more than once, and with no 
thought or effort to make the many 
admire them. In their composition the 
advice of the great Venusian was taken 
— to blot frequently, and to rest con- 
tent with a few judicious readers. It 
may be that the "Echoes" will fulfil 
Field's prediction for them, though au- 
thors are not always the best judges as 
to which of their own productions will 
appeal directly and successfully to the 
public. 

It is far more likely that these para- 
phrases of Horace will give place, in 
point of popularity at least, to "A Little 
Book of Western Verse," the lullabies 
of which have crowned their creator the 
"bard of Babylon." 

But for me the star of Eugene Field's 
genius shines in another heaven, and 
125 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

lights toward another haven. With all 
due justice to his exquisite child's verse, 
the tenderness of which is unexcelled; 
with due recognition of the merit of 
his Horatian strains, than which noth- 
ing of their kind has yet appeared 
more graceful, nor, in a surprising num- 
ber of examples, more faithful; for 
the ability, wit, and versatility of his 
newspaper productions, over which all 
journalists wax enthusiastic, and of 
which he himself was outspokenly proud, 
he must be conceded much and a de- 
served applause. But there is a little 
coterie of souls, the very core of whose 
hearts he has touched, to the very ten- 
drils of whose inner feelings he has 
penetrated, with his " Bibliomaniac's 
Prayer," "The Bibliomaniac's Bride," 
"Dibdin's Ghost," "Odors which My 
Books Exhale," "Boccaccio," the lilting 
126 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

"Truth about Horace," and the "De 
Amicitiis " ; and these folk will keep 
green the memory of Field's "Love 
Affairs of a Bibliomaniac" as book- 
lovers throughout the world keep alive 
the " Philobiblon " of Richard de Bury. 

The "Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac" 
is the Bandusian Spring which flows 
from the mind of the observant trav- 
eller and ripened scholar. It is the story 
of mental growth, and it depicts the joys 
found in books, "those sacred vessels 
of wisdom," from the Genesis of " Rob- 
inson Crusoe " to the Revelations of the 
Odes of Horace. To the lover of 
books, and to the lover of what they 
contain, upon this volume is founded 
the supreme hope of a place in litera- 
ture for the writings of Eugene Field. 

"Can this man be dead? Not, I 
am sure, while any of us who knew him 
127 



The Eugene Field I Knew 

remain alive. Only the least part of 
him is really gone ; but how ill can we 
spare even that ! " 

With breath of many winds his name 
Is blown about the world, but to his friends 

A sweeter secret lies behind his fame ; 

And love steals shyly through the loud acclaim 
To murmur a " God bless you ! " and there ends. 



128 




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